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Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy won a hot and blustery battle with 12th seed
Patty Schnyder 5-7 6-1 7-5 on Wednesday to reach the semi-finals of the
Australian Open.
In a
topsy-turvy encounter the Swiss looked poised for victory when she led
2-0 in the deciding set but Dechy stormed back to reach the last four of
a grand slam for the first time. She will next meet top seed Lindsay
Davenport.
"I
think the big thing was my fighting spirit," said Dechy, who saved 11 of
13 break points in a match lasting more than two and a half hours.
"It
was a really tough battle. But I never, never gave up. I kept thinking
positive and go for it and go for it, and it worked at the end. I'm
really proud of what I did."
While
Davenport and Alicia Molik fought out a tense battle on Rod Laver Arena,
Dechy and Schnyder had to settle for the the Margaret Court Arena, the
third biggest court at Melbourne Park.
"That
wasn't scheduled very nicely," the Frenchwoman said.
"You
feel really disappointed because you just think that nobody cares too
much about this match, and it's still a quarter-final of a grand slam."
With
both players struggling in the heat and with a swirling wind, Schnyder,
a semi-finalist in 2004, missed eight chances to break before finally
snatching the only break in the set in the 12th game.
But
Dechy, showing few signs of nerves in her first grand slam
quarter-final, ripped through the second set in 26 minutes to level the
match.
Schnyder broke in the opening game of the third and led 2-0 but Dechy
fought back to level and then broke again in the 12th game with a
sizzling backhand to advance to the last four.
Despite having won just one set in five meetings with Davenport, the
last in Sydney earlier this month, Dechy said she believed she could
cause another upset in the semi-finals.
"I
think I can (win) because I'm playing much, much better than two weeks
ago, and then it was a tough two sets."
Schnyder, who was appearing in the semi-finals for the second successive
year, said she should have won.
"I
think it was a very lucky win for her," the Swiss said.
"I
should have won the first set much easier, but she saved the break
points. I was lucky two days ago (against Elena Dementieva), and now she
was lucky."
Schnyder beat sixth seed Dementieva in the fourth round after the
Russian served for the match but then produced a string of errors to
lose in three sets.
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